Western Australia's state final demand (trend chain volume measures) grew 2.3% ($643 million) to $28,077 million in the March quarter 2007, following increases of 1.5% and 2.1% in the September and December quarters of 2006 respectively. Current quarter growth exceeded that of all other states and territories, with other results ranging from -0.1% in the Northern Territory to 1.5% in Queensland. Nationally, domestic final demand increased 1.1% in the March quarter 2007.

In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, Western Australia's state final demand rose 3.5% ($952 million) to $28,418 million in March quarter 2007, due mainly to an increase in private gross fixed capital formation (up 7.6% or $700 million). Private investment grew 10.8% ($394 million) in non-dwelling construction and 10.5% ($287 million) in machinery and equipment. Final consumption expenditure also contributed to March quarter growth, with household consumption up 1.6% ($214 million) and government consumption up 0.8% ($31 million). Household consumption was mainly driven by increased spending on hotels, cafes and restaurants (up $42 million or 5.6%), recreation and culture (up $30 million or 1.8%), food (up $29 million or 1.9%) and the purchase of vehicles (up $28 million or 4.6%).

Major detractors from growth in Western Australia's state final demand in the March quarter 2007 were gross fixed capital formation by public corporations (down $35 million or 6.0%) and private sector ownership transfer costs (down $29 million or 6.4%). Public corporation investment was down mainly due to the reclassification of Telstra Corporation from a public to private sector non-financial corporation in the March quarter 2007, following its privatisation on 20 November 2006.